Thomas Mace (1612 or 1613 – c. 1706) was an English lutenist, viol player, singer, composer and musical theorist of the Baroque era. His book Musick's Monument (1676) provides a valuable description of 17th century musical practice. Born in 1612 or 1613, [1] he played the lute from c. 1621, but his teacher if any is unknown. [2] .

As 21st century lute players, we are among the first generation of performers to have access to dozens of sporadic lute manuscripts right at our fingertips. This is largely thanks to the many hard working and dedicated libraries and digitisers who are helping to share and preserve these treasures for generations to come.

Although the lute enjoyed great favour throughout Europe during the Renaissance, the baroque lute may be regarded as a French phenomenon. Thomas Mace, one of the few authors who wrote extensively on the instrument, called it the “French lute”.1 In a similar vein, the anonymous author of the Burwell Lute Tutor wrote that:

Mary Burwell's lute tutor, already mentioned, is for baroque lute, but gives a wealth of detail, local colour and lute mythology which is certainly relevant to the earlier period.

Aug 4, 2023 · Some 70 years later, Thomas Mace describes holding the lute in an almost identical manner: First set yourself down against a table, in as becoming a posture, as you would chuse to do for your best reputation.

A lute back sits on the bench, and a mould (perhaps?) for a bowed instrument hangs on the wall next to a completed lute. The other early guide is Henri Arnault of Zwolle"s lute design, from his manuscript of c.1450.

An exquisite and intriguing collection of early English Baroque lute music containing twelve preludes, eight complete lute suites, transcription notes, and a detailed table of ornaments (as outlined in Musick's Monument). Originally written as a pedagogical text for lute and theorbo, Mace's lute music contains wonderful ins ...more

Written in French tablature for the 6-course Renaissance lute and in standard notation for the classic guitar with the 3rd string lowered to F#, the author provides 30 original compositions in the contrapuntal polyphonic style characteristic of the 16th and early 17th centuries.

Basics on the Baroque Lute and Foreword to Anthology of Easy to Intermediate Music for 11-course Lute Thomas Mace, in his 1676 treatise on the lute Musick's Monument, suggested that the adoption of extra bass strings on lute made the instrument easier to play. While this is probably true for the fretting hand, it is certainly not easier for the